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The Options window opens in a TAB now, not in a window (Tools / Options from Menu)

  • 10 replies
  • 46 have this problem
  • 4 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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As of yesterday, when i went to the menu and click Tools / Options, it would open up a small window (Options window),

As of today, when i click Tools / Options, it opens up in a new TAB. I want the small options window back, how do I do this? I dont

As of yesterday, when i went to the menu and click Tools / Options, it would open up a small window (Options window), As of today, when i click Tools / Options, it opens up in a new TAB. I want the small options window back, how do I do this? I dont

Chosen solution

You can toggle browser.preferences.inContent to false on the about:config page to restore the separate Options/Preferences window that you had in previous Firefox versions.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.


Firefox’s Redesigned Preferences Feel More like the Web:

Read this answer in context 👍 9

All Replies (10)

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Chosen Solution

You can toggle browser.preferences.inContent to false on the about:config page to restore the separate Options/Preferences window that you had in previous Firefox versions.

You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.


Firefox’s Redesigned Preferences Feel More like the Web:

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I don't like having my options menu as a fullpage tab, I want my small popup window back! We should be able to choose which one we prefer!

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VioletQ you can change it back as per information in reply above.

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James - I did look at the about-config page & cannot figure out what I'm spoze to do! I'm not that techie, need a simpleton's explanation.

PS - I did NOT see a "I'll be careful" place to click. Nor do I know what "toggle browser" means.

Modified by VioletQ

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You can paste this in the location/address bar and accept the warning.

  • about:config?filter=browser.preferences.inContent

That will open the about:config page with only this pref showing. You can double-click the browser.preferences.inContent true line to toggle the value of the pref to false.

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Thank you so much cor-el! Much appreciated.

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You're welcome Violet

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Thank you, thank you cor-el!! For me, options in a tab wastes time and tabs. I don't know why but finding the necessary settings that way slows me down considerably.

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As of the Firefox 42 update, having the browser.preferences.inContent value as false no longer makes any difference. Tools/options only open as a web interface once again. Does anyone know of another solution? It seems possible to assign a new String, Integer or boolean to browser.preferences.inContent but I don't understand enough to know what any of that would do.

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The browser.preferences.inContent is no longer supported in Firefox 42 and later, so it is not possible to open a standalone window by setting this pref to false. Bug 1140495 - Remove support for windowed preferences

You can possibly create a button on the Bookmarks Toolbar to the about:preferences page and hold the Shift key and left-click to open the page in a new window.

You can look at the Classic Theme Restorer extension.